Social networking giant, Facebook is all set to monetise the popular instant messaging platform WhatsApp by pushing ads inside the Status tab, a move something which was hated by the founders of WhatsApp- Brian Acton and Jan Koum. Facebook is considering this move four years after acquiring WhatsApp for a whopping $19 billion. Right from the time of acquisition, Facebook has monetisation plans, as revealed by Brian Acton recently. This move will come as a surprise for many normal users, but those who're aware of Facebook's other platforms including- Messenger, Facebook and Instagram, it won't come as a surprise as the company has been making money by publishing ads since ages.
WhatsApp Will Display Ads Inside the Status Tab
Right now, it's unknown how Facebook is looking to monetise WhatsApp- where it will display ads. But a recent report highlighted that ads would be integrated inside the WhatsApp Status tab, same as how Instagram integrated into its Stories. Now, ads won't appear in the Status tab, but when you start viewing the statutes of your friends, they appear randomly. Moving onto the Messenger app by Facebook, ads are integrated everywhere- ads appear between the chats on your home screen, ads appear inside the memories tab and you can see ads everywhere in the app. The same case applies to Facebook as well.
But Facebook might not go for glory right away by integrating ads everywhere inside WhatsApp. For now, it's confirmed that Status tab will display ads.
WhatsApp Stayed Away from Ads Which is the Reason Behind its Success
One of the key reasons why WhatsApp became so successful is the easy-to-use interface and lack of ads inside the platform. This is something other instant messaging platforms lack. Right now, WhatsApp has over 1.3 billion active users and India is the largest market for the company with over 200 million users on board. And the number keeps on growing.
However, if WhatsApp comes goes ahead and integrates inside the platform, it might prove troublesome for many. Integrating ads means Facebook has to sacrifice on the encryption part which might not go as a good move for several users. WhatsApp introduced end-to-encryption a couple of years of ago stating that it wants to provide users utmost security.
Under Facebook, WhatsApp is turning out to be yet another company which doesn't keep on its words. But we must admit that the two founders who promised of an ad-free experience are no more associated with the company.
Personally, I would like Facebook to not monetise WhatsApp as ads will turn out to be a significant threat to the platform itself. What's your view on this? Let us know by commenting below.
